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After his workers had blasted off the surface rock of the mountain, Gutzon Borglum spent days and nights watching how the light and shadow landed on the mountain. This process ultimately made him decide to deviate from the original plan and shift 20 degrees. Borglum built a studio size model of Mount Rushmore and proceeded to enlarge the measurements on a scale to sculpt the mountain itself.

Gutzon Borglum and a team of dedicated South Dakotan workers built the national monument at Mount Rushmore. For 14 years, the men toiled. In the end they created a shrine of democracy, a massive sculpture unlike any other. Millions of people make the pilgrimage to Rushmore each year. This interactive presentation takes a closer look at the various phases of construction.

The only experience any living person had with carving mountains into art was Borglum himself, at Stone Mountain in Georgia. Although he did not complete that project, a number of techniques for sculpting Mount Rushmore were developed there.

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